


A Fire-Scorched Touch

by knifepuppy



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Cat and Mouse dynamic, Hannibal gets what he wants, Hannibal pushes Will and he pushes back, M/M, Possessive Hannibal Lecter, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Will Graham, and eventual romance I promise, the beginnings of affection, there’s a mutual interest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:34:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28511256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knifepuppy/pseuds/knifepuppy
Summary: Hannibal prods Will and realizes that Will yearns for touch more than he consciously knows. Hannibal, the psychiatrist, the manipulator, and the astute observer of human behavior he is, experiments with touch and attempts to push Will as far as he can.
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 47





	A Fire-Scorched Touch

**Author's Note:**

> Work inspired by and dedicated to the lovely @hannisimp on Instagram. <3 Check out her amazing work!

Will cleared his throat, and spoke, hearing the tremble in his voice.

“Can you, um, step back for a minute, Dr. Lecter?”

Hannibal closed his eyes briefly and smiled down at the other man with the fondest and kindest expression. Will appeared a perfect mess, chest heaving and face deepening into red. Hannibal’s smirk grew wider, perfectly satisfied with the reaction his actions had garnered. He stepped back, allowing a fraction of extra distance between them.

Back against the wall, poor, lovely, Will was so off balance with his ears tinted red and exquisite curls perfectly plastered to his square jaw by sweat. And then there was what Hannibal valued most—Will’s expressional bluish-green eyes, trembling slightly with nervousness but only thinly veiling a biting flame which threatened to burst at any moment.

Still, Will averted his eyes and peered with an unfocused gaze at a stain on the bland carpet of the the West Wing of the Behavioral Sciences Unit.

Having taken too many steps toward Will, Hannibal had succeeded in rustling Will, making the other man quiver adorably at his closeness.

“Of course, Will. My apologies.”

The previous day, Hannibal had come to a realization that Will was attracted to him. He had based his assumption on several observations: the way Will peered at the other man shyly, gorgeous lashes blinking slowly, the way Will had occasionally seemed daunted at the other man’s powerful presence, and finally, his response to prolonged eye contact between the two, at times averting his eyes and biting his lip.

Hannibal, in fact, was not surprised at Will’s attraction to him. Hannibal had been desired by many people, from gorgeous elegant women to fetching young men. He had become used to this unshifting gaze, and would find enjoyment in it at every opportunity. 

However, Will was a different story. Although he appeared willingly unskilled in social graces and abruptly rude at times, the depth of his gaze often left Hannibal spellbound. Without his glasses and with a good hair cut, Will might be able to hold a candle to Hannibal’s past lovers. But it was not his features that affected him; Hannibal was bound by the vulernability in Will's eyes, which begged to be freed from misery. At the same time, a darkness brooded; not unlike a black hole, it was unyielding in the back of his skull, sucking every pinprick of light into its vastness.

In both ways, Will unknowingly begged for freedom and yearned for power.

Clicking his tongue thoughtfully, Hannibal recognized only he was capable of helping understand himself and his desires. Hannibal exhaled slowly, and attempted to maintain his composure. 

In wake of the silence, Will frowned noticeably, raised his hands to his head and frantically checked that each and every hair was intact, a nervous habit, wired into him from many years past, Hannibal assumed.

Will was recovering from such a close interaction, coping as best as he knew how. This severe response to something as basic as human closeness piqued Hannibal’s curiosity, as he wondered how Will’s childhood had shaped his actions. Briefly, he considered broaching the topic in therapy at a later point. Quickly, he pushed that away, with his brain analyzing and solving the problem on reflex. Instead, his mind drew toward baser desires. 

He wanted to see how his actions could prompt this nervous behavior as well as how far he could push Will. 

How else could he elicit such a beautiful response from Will?

Will straightened his back, adjusted his glasses, and stretched out from the wall, and tried to look less like a turtle who has retreated into his shell (which he already did).

Will cleared his throat, and spoke with as much authority as he could muster. “I will be on my way now,” He slowly backed up and walked deftly around Hannibal’s shoulders, failing to notice the slowly forming smirk on the other man’s face. 

As Will strode as confidently as he could toward the lab to meet Jack and the others to discuss the minute details of the Ripper’s brutal work, he roughly pinched the skin between his eyebrows and visibly sighed, mentally preparing himself for bickering between the group members.

—

The next time Hannibal found Will preciously vulnerable was after a long lecture interrupted and followed by a heated discussion with Jack. Hannibal briskly walked toward the classroom entrance after hearing the shouting dissipate. Jack stormed out of the room, paused, gave Hannibal a nod, and left abruptly. 

Hannibal found Will folded over his desk, hands tightly gripping at the notches in then wood, knuckles turned white. His shoulders trembled slightly and his face turned down, with his curls hanging over his darkening eyes menacingly. His glasses wobbled on the bridge of his nose, threatning to topple off.

Hannibal inhaled and slowly exhaled a deep breath, observing the beautifully unwound Will. He let his presence known by knocking softly on the door frame, to which Will flinched slightly. 

“You and Jack have entangled your antlers once again. Who will end up successfully goring the other?”

Will’s breath slowed, his mouth stretched into a slight smirk, and he spit out with acidity, 

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Dr. Lecter?”

Hannibal hummed, but otherwise remained silent.

“I bet you would enjoy watching us tear one another apart.”

Hannibal was silent as he slowly walked over to Will, with the other man unfolding himself and standing straight up, making unflinching eye contact with him.

“As much as a I am an fond observer of human behavior, I ensure you, Will that I would not let it come to pass.”

Hannibal stopped in front of the desk, leaned over, and pressed his left hand dangerously close to Will’s as he peered down into his eyes.

Will tensed slightly at the other’s closeness, and swallowed thickly, eye contact faltering, and briefly peered down at their hands, inches apart.

Maintaining his white hot anger, Will appeared only somewhat affected by the closeness, ears turning a lovely red. However, peered up defiantly and met the other man’s gaze. He let a chuckle slip from between his lips and spoke, 

“Believe me, Doctor, even if it happened, I would not let you relish it.”

Hannibal, paused a moment, fixed on a thought instead and plainly said, “I imagine you would not.”

A prolonged pause came to pass between them, and Hannibal finally broke the silence.

“You look like you are in need of a recess, Will. Care to join me for a walk?”

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but I want to expand more on the history behind our boy's touch starvedness. :) Comments and shares always appreciated!


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